A place to discuss, disagree, and vent your opinions on issues related to government, terrorism, and homeland security. This is the home of the "Stupid Awards" program.

China, aiming to get the most mileage it can from continuing discussions with Iran rather than sanctions-- which also means that China gets to continue to receive oil and gas from that country as well--seems to be creating problems for the Obama Administration in its attempts to impose significant sanctions on that country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu has reiterated that there is still room for discussions to overcome issues around Iran's nuclear energy program, reports PressTV. Russia has been joining China in that quest.

"We have always believed that dialogue and negotiations are the best channels for resolving the Iran nuclear issue," Jiang said." Referring to the regular meetings of the five permanent members of the Security Council — Russia, China, France, the US and UK — plus Germany (P5+1), she added, "We have stated many times that the six countries launching the talks in New York does not mean that the door is shut to dialogue and negotiations."

Iran claims their nuclear conference a great success

Iran conducted its own nuclear disarmament conference, as it claimed it would, following the recent Washington Conference to which it, Syria, and North Korea were not invited. Iran continues to indicate that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes and not for developing weapons. Few countries in the West believe that position--something only time will tell. Most recently Iran announced it would increase and extend its nuclear development program regarless of what the US wanted, and dared them, or others, such as Israel, to step in.

Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Killed in raid

Iraqi and U.S. troops, building on information provided by a captured al-Qaeda agent, killed a regional leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq in an early morning raid Tuesday. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri were killed in a joint operation Sunday in what has been described as a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaeda in Iraq. The intelligence that led to the elusive leaders' desert safehouse about six miles (10 kilometers) southwest of Tikrit came from the same source — a senior al-Qaeda operative captured last month — that produced the information leading to Tuesday's raid, according to a senior Iraqi military intelligence officer who supervised both operations. Security forces continue to put pressure on the terrorist organization following the reported deaths of these two top-ranking figures over the weekend, officials said.

The Palestinian leadership is exerting efforts to force Israel into cancelling the military decision on the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians out of the West Bank, Dr.Saeb Oraiqat, the head of negotiations in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said. The Palestinian authority would head to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to demand the issuance of a resolution to black out the Israeli military decision. Israel has reportedly started implementation of the resolution (1650) issued by the commander of the Israeli forces operating the West Bank to expel Palestinians residing in the city, claiming that they are classified as ‘infiltrators’.

Bringing out the tanks just in case an illegal alien is found is overkill

The most recent debacle by the various Gestapo units of DHS is to bring out nearly 800 full armed, armor protected Feds to try to capture a few illegals in Tucson. This latest incident of overkill completely stopped the main arteries of the city while the DHS goon squads did their work.

How Stupid!

While I believe in a reasonable policy on illegal immigration, and finding ways to stop the illegals, this is decidely NOT IT. What will happen one of these days is that the illegals WILL fight back and not try to melt into the communities as they presently do, and there will be bloodshed on the streets. Much of that possibility is due, in my view, to the heavy-handed approach that former Governor of Arizona Napolitano practiced while she was Governor.

Seems to me that the firepower used in Tucson would have been better used along the border (Dah!) where you prevent them from coming in to begin with. Of course, that would probably mean these goons would not then have anyone (other than the illegals) see all the fancy equipment and guns they insist on scaring the populace with as they did in Tucson.

Has anyone seen any mushroom clouds down around the convention center in Washington DC?

The air is thick down there with political posturing about what to do with the three meanies (N. Korea, Iran & Syria) that were not invited. Guess it is important that when the powers that be want to talk about you in public the best thing is not to invite you to listen. Sure works wonders in really diplomatic situations.

Madame Secretary Hillary is there, fresh from her shutdown by Obama--who indicated clearly she would NOT be in consideration for the Supreme Court. That could have been an interesting confirmation hearing--with all the history from Arkansas--Papergrate, Billygate, and the other 'gates' involving the shading dealings of she and the former President while he was Governor.

A number of other leaders are also there among the 47 countries represented that have gone nuclear. With so many (including Israel who continues to officially refuse to admit that it has the bomb), it almost seems time to give everybody a bomb and get back to detente like we had during the Cold War. As Tom Lehrer said years ago, "First we got the bomb and that was good, cause we love peace and motherhood.." Try to tell that to anyone who has to navigate in the District while this charade is going on this week.

When you get a chance, read the impassioned diatribe by Obama about how bin laden would dearly love to get a bomb. Frankly he probably wants a bomb more than we want to get him. Neither side has yet competantly achieved its desires.

Along the Mexican Border - Arizona. Following the killing of Robert Krentz a few days ago, the Arizona Governor and others along the border are asking for--but apparently not receiving--assistance from the Federal Government to maintain effective patrolling the sourthern border with Mexico. Krentz, a farmer, was killed by an unknown assailant, and locals are suggesting that it was an illegal trying to cross the border on his ranch. Gov. Jan Brewer (AZ) told Fox News on Wednesday that after repeatedly calling on the federal government to send in 250 National Guard troops, she hasn't ruled out making the call herself. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is considering similar measures. Secretary Napolitano's spokesman has onlyu insignificant off-point comments to make when asked by Fox what here intention were since this is a Federal issue.

DHS Inspector General - Washington DC. Meanwhile, the investigators in the various DHS agencies are in conflict with the DHG Inspector General on who leads in conducting internal corruption probes. Assistant Inspector General Thomas M. Frost has told agencies that the DHS IG decides who participates in probes or provides information to other agencies. The Washington Post broke the story on the internal spat on Monday and the noise continues to reverberate throughout the Agency offices. At the heart of the story is the The conflict between the inspector general's office , Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the FBI. Read the story in the Post and see if you feel, as i do, that we have children playing badly in the sandbox.

Former DHS official convicted in immigration case - Boston MA. The Boston Globe reports that Lorraine Henderson, the former Port Director for Customs and Border Protection was convicted in Federal District Court for encouraging illegal immigratioin. In this case, her former housekeeper, an illegal from Brazil. CBP, when informed of the housekeepr's status by Ms. Henderson, wired hte housekeeper up and conducted a sting operation to snare Ms. Henderson. Appeals are expected. Ms. henderson was fired by CBP following her disclosure of the illegal employee.

Washington, DC. You just have to love the scenes going on around the AIPAC meeting now underway in Washington. (PS: The clue is that they always seem to have some kind of meeting after Washington decides not to agree with the Israeli Government over some issue)

In any event, here is Hillary Clinton extolling the 'rock solid' support of the adminstration for Israeli Security while continuing to demand that the settlement buulding in East Jerusalem stops. Ofcourse, they are not going to stop the building efforts because that would possibly enable the Palestinians to get their land back for the capital of their country--something decidedly against Israeli policy. So they dance around the issue and us AIPAC to pressure the congressmen and senators they have in their financial back pocket to exert pressure on the obama administration for them.

Now the Obama people, including the President, know they can only go so far, but this president does not go all out to extol everything the Israelis do like his ass-kissing predecessor George Bush who assumed that anything they do is simply defense of their nation--like the Gaza genocide and massacres.

The next set of steps are today when the Israeli PM Netanyahu meets in a private meeting in the Oval Office where he will promise that no more public announcements of building will be made that will embarass Washington. In direct words, the Israelis are going to dpo whatever they want, and Washington will allow it as long as nothing is announced. Sounds a bit like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to me. But that's just good politics I guess.

London. The Brits have decided to expel the local head of Mossad from Britain as a reaction to the use of fraudulent British passports by the Mossad to kill the Palestinian leader in Dubai a short while ago. Better message than the ass-kissing going on in Washington.

This is not the first time that the Israelis have had their hands slapped for forgery of British Passports. Former PM Margaret Thatcher also expelled Israeli diplomats in 1986. That time 14 diplomats went home and the Mossad Station was closed. Don't know what will happen this time until Millibrand, the Foriegn Secretary speaks to parliament today.

Beijing. Google has stopped censoring its internet pages for the Chinese Government, and re-directed its customers to their Hong Kong site. This does not mean the end to censorship, but it will highlight the fact that the Commie Goverment will do the censoring now instead of hiding behind Google.

Over the past several years, both through this blog and my books, I have attempted to stress that there is far more to terrorism than a few individuals laying mines and arranging the detonation of IED's. Acts of terrorism have several attributes that are important to recognize so that steps can be taken to mitigate the risks involved.

First, there is the nature of terrorism itself. The definition in Webster says, "The systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion." That means terrorism occurs in many places beyond established battlefields--in fact, it clearly can make the traditional battlefield an obsolete anachronism of the past.

Second, the asnychronous character of terrorism needs to be considered. There are no 'rules' to terrorism. of course, there are many books from mostly weekend and armchair warriors that propose to 'teach' people terrorism--many call it 'urban warfare' or some other glorifc term that still means the same thing--injure and kill as many innocent people as possible.

Third, the sense that terrorism can be practiced by anyone, in any given circumstance, and under any conditions needs to be examined. We have seen too many highly educated people turning to terrorist activities to disregard this aspect of the problem.

My first book, Minihan's Dilemma, sets the tone for my thoughts on terrorism as it is practiced--not as it is publicized in the media. I see the conflict among parties as one of two intelligent and dedicated groups (or more in some cases) who have what they perceive to be urgent needs and complaints that require some solution. I also see a number of highly intelligent people on both sides applying their skills to defeat the other. This is certainly true of the American--Bernie Minihan-- and is equally true of his protagonist Fatool. Each has been schooled and gained experience in their 'brand' of terrorist/anti-terrorism actions. Both believe they are right; both believe they know the other's game plan; both believe they will win over time. yet, the best they can do is essentially a draw. Why?

Looking back to the Minihan-Fatool duels, it is clear that both rely on rules of engagement--but that those rules are vastly different. Minihan relies on established practice of an organized agency--bending them as he chooses, but keeping those rules as the central pole of his actions. Fatool, conversely, has the zeal of his religious beliefs, which are often contradictory, and is limited only by his ability to construct scenarios and actions that meet his purpose--for Fatool there are 'rules' unless he creates them.

What allows the success that Minihan achieves--however fleeting--is his ability to try to put himself in Fatool's head and see what Fatool sees, think like Fatool thinks, and move to counteract what he perceives might be Fatool's course of action. As they act and react against each other, they learn from each other, respect each other, and continue to operate. neither becomes complacent--instead, they adapt and change into new ansychronous behaviors that require constant rethinking by the other.

Applying my views on Minihan to the more general view of terrorism described above, it is clear to me that much of our policy to date has been to try to establish parameters within which we expect terrorist activities to be bounded, and we are not being successful in that endeavor. For that matter, nor are the Europeans, the Israeli's or anyone else who claim to have a handle on this issues involved. Instead, we apply palliatives to the problem to make it look less dangerous, such as reacting to specific situations (We take off shoes in airports because of Reed, etc.) instead of doing the harder work of looking at broader trends and trying to gain an undestanding of how the Arab mind (or any other mindset which spawns terrorists in any country, including some of our own allies) acts and reacts when stimulated.

One final point is that terrorism is generally a cycle. One action produces a reaction, and another action and another reaction--until people have forgotton the origin of the conflict. Most of the time, such as the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza this morning, we simply start the cycle moving again without regard to consequences. In other instances, we try to apply other pressures, such as sanctions, to force a change in attitude or action. In still others, we think that reliance on International bodies, such as the UN, will, by their nature, force change. Witness only the reaction of Iran to UN and US threats to see the wisdom of that approach.

Breaking the cycle is the way to stop terrorism. That requires some honest broker(s) who will listen to the parties with respect and not condescension; have the ability to put the parties together in discussion, and not in other rooms or other cities; and who will listen to ALL of the issues in trying to fashion a solution. Real solutions take time and until they are apparent, terrorism will continue to be a useful way to bring issues to the public. it will go away in the mainstream when its value as a method declines.

The number of contractors has grown well out of proportion at DHS over the last few years--and now it appears that the contractors rule the roost in our newsest--and usually most incompetant--Federal Agency. Ed O'Keefe wrote about the matter on Februrary 25th for the Washington Post, and said, "The Department of Homeland Security said this week that it employs more private contractors than federal employees, an admission that officials blamed on the department's quick establishment seven years ago and the federal government's burdensome hiring process. "

"DHS officials informed Senate staffers this month that it employs roughly 200,000 contractors and about 188,000 federal employees. The figure does not include uniformed members of the Coast Guard, which is one of the department's 22 agencies. "

"That raises a question of whether it's the most efficient use of taxpayer money, but also the question of who's making critical decisions at the department," Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Wednesday during a hearing of the homeland security committee on the department's annual budget requests. "Is it private contractors, or is it full-time federal employees?" He called the figures "shocking and unacceptable."

Secretary Napolitano disputed the numbers during an oversight hearing chaired by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), saying, "I think the number illustrates a problem, or an issue we have to work on. The department was stood up quickly, and in order to accomplish the many missions that it has, contracting was a mechanism to be used."

Paul Light, a Brookings Institution scholar on the federal government, disputed the DHS estimates, and said the number of contractors is likely to be much higher. Who should one believe? Read the entire story here.

DHS Identity Program is Prone to Failure

Information Week is reporting the the touted E-Verify Program used to identify illegal workers is erroneous more than half the time, says its February 26th issue (Electronic). Government system employers can use to check a potential hire's eligibility to work in the U.S. accurately flags unauthorized workers less than half the time, according to a research report.

"A report from Westat found that the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system inaccurately identifies workers unauthorized for employment in the U.S. as authorized 54 percent of the time. "

"E-Verify is an online system that compares employee status with more than 444 million records in the Social Security Administration database and more than 60 million records in DHS immigration databases."

"Only 6.2 percent of all E-Verify queries related to unauthorized workers, however, and the system is matching up legal workers with the proper status with 99 percent accuracy, according to the report. "

That is a wide margin of error that can be disasterous. Read the whole story here.

In Arizona, all employers are required to use the program, but, as the Arizona Republic reports in today's electronic edition, they can also be held liable for hiring someone verified by the program, but later found to be an unauthorized hire using fraudulent identity papers.

Mike McConnell, former NSA Director and Director of National Intelligence, believes we are losing the Cyber-war on Terrorism, according to an article that will appear in the Washington Post this Sunda (Feb 28). "The United States is fighting a cyber-war today, and we are losing. It's that simple. As the most wired nation on Earth, we offer the most targets of significance, yet our cyber-defenses are woefully lacking," McConnell Says in his article.

"The problem is not one of resources; even in our current fiscal straits, we can afford to upgrade our defenses. The problem is that we lack a cohesive strategy to meet this challenge," he continues.

"The stakes are enormous. To the extent that the sprawling U.S. economy inhabits a common physical space, it is in our communications networks. If an enemy disrupted our financial and accounting transactions, our equities and bond markets or our retail commerce -- or created confusion about the legitimacy of those transactions -- chaos would result. Our power grids, air and ground transportation, telecommunications, and water-filtration systems are in jeopardy as well. " Read the entire story here.

This story is a must read for those of you who really want to understand the various facets of the overall problem.

Yemen comes to the forefront

Another pressing concern of the world powers is the growing ascendency of the al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen, reported the LA Times earlier this month. Their headline said, "The group, Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula, is the 'foremost concern' of U.S. intelligence officials, who cite the attempted Christmas Day jetliner bombing and the attack at Ft. Hood." It is this group that seems to have the newest group of tentacles that are menacing several countries without apparent restraint. The Yemeni Government is doing just enough to harass them to keep the US and others off their back, but not enough to really slow down or eliminate the threat.

"Al Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen has emerged as the "foremost concern" for U.S. spy agencies since the group was tied to two attacks in the United States last year, according to a sweeping assessment of the global terrorism threat issued Tuesday by the nation's top intelligence officer.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair told a Senate panel that American spy agencies have intensified surveillance of the Al Qaeda affiliate's operations amid concern that the group -- once considered a regional menace -- is focused on the "recruitment of Westerners or other individuals with access to the U.S. homeland."

Several perspectiuves are emerging from current operations in Afghanistan--aside from the military actions.

An Australian view was provided by Julie Bishop, Deputy Opposition Leader of the Australian Parliament in the Sydney Daily herald on February 24th, in which she said, " The recent collapse of the Dutch Government over its commitment to the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan is an example of the inevitable tension that arises in Western democracies between a government’s long-term commitment to a military deployment, public opinion and the electoral cycle.

Public pressure inevitably increases if there are ongoing casualties and a perceived slow rate of progress in not only winning a war but in the requisite reconstruction efforts and nation-building during and after a conflict. The Dutch Prime Minister’s decision to extend the deployment of Dutch troops in Afghanistan beyond the planned withdrawal date in September, causing the Labor Party to pull out of the ruling coalition and sending the nation to the polls in three months, is the latest illustration of this tension."

She continued, "This will impact on Australia as our troops are stationed in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, where the Dutch have played a lead role since 2006, and have established a positive presence and image with the Afghani people.

At a time when the United States is increasing its offensive in Afghanistan and urging other nations to follow, the challenge for NATO is to ensure the situation in the Netherlands does not have a ripple effect among other Western nations contributing to the international deployment." Read the entire story here.

In an interview with the international Analyst Network, Dr. Athanasio Drougos discusses the financial and other impacts of global terrorism and says, "The security of the western interests is directly challenged by the deep and strident anti-western policies and tactics of certain countries. For instance, Iran-Syria-Cuba-Sudan, and I would add Burma-North Korea, and Venezuela. They are state-sponsors of terrorism. They are rogue regimes, involved in a wide variety of terrorist and other criminal activities. "

He continues, " The state-sponsorship means that fully and ruthlessly supports terrorist groups as proxies to advance their anti-western interests. They support transnational networks to wage asymmetric-hybrid operations against states."

"On the other hand, those trends require a broader and joint counterterrorism strategy and response, including preemptive/preventive measures against the state sponsors of political violence. The western world should upgrade even more the level of intelligence-sharing and studying in depth the “asymmetrical behavior” of the current enemies." Read the interview here.

The so-called "War on Terrorism" is not a simple prospect for resolution. Rather, there are many tentacles, each of which when cut simply grows anew somewhere else. Our challenge is to kill the body in such a way that it does not survive. That may not be accomplished completely through military means as seems to be the case today.

This Security Directive (SD) must be implemented immediately. The measures contained in this SD are in addition to all other SDs currently in effect for your operations.

INFORMATION: On December 25, 2009, a terrorist attack was attempted against a flight traveling to the United States. TSA has identified security measures to be implemented by airports, aircraft operators, and foreign air carriers to mitigate potential threats to flights.

APPLICABILITY: THIS SD APPLIES TO AIRCRAFT OPERATORS THAT CARRY OUT A SECURITY PROGRAM REGULATED UNDER 49 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS (CFR)1544.101(a).

ACTIONS REQUIRED: If you conduct scheduled and/or public charter flight operations under a Full Program under 49 CFR 1544.101(a) departing from any foreign location to the United States (including its territories and possessions), you must immediately implement all measures in this SD for each such flight.

1. BOARDING GATE

1. The aircraft operator or authorized air carrier representative must ensure all passengers are screened at the boarding gate during the boarding process using the following procedures. These procedures are in addition to the screening of all passengers at the screening checkpoint.

1. Perform thorough pat-down of all passengers at boarding gate prior to boarding, concentrating on upper legs and torso.2. Physically inspect 100 percent of all passenger accessible property at the boarding gate prior to boarding, with focus on syringes being transported along with powders and/or liquids.3. Ensure the liquids, aerosols, and gels restrictions are strictly adhered to in accordance with SD 1544-06-02E.

2. During the boarding process, the air carrier may exempt passengers who are Heads of State or Heads of Government from the measures outlined in Section I.A. of this SD, including the following who are traveling with the Head of State or Head of Government:

1. Spouse and children, or2. One other individual (chosen by the Head of State or Head of Government)

3. For the purposes of Section I.B., the following definitions apply:

1. Head of State: An individual serving as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth, or any other political state (for example, King, Queen, and President).

2. Head of Government: The chief officer of the executive branch of a government presiding over a cabinet (for example, Prime Minister, Premier, President, and Monarch).

2. IN FLIGHT

1. During flight, the aircraft operator must ensure that the following procedures are followed:

1. Passengers must remain in seats beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.2. Passenger access to carry-on baggage is prohibited beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.3. Disable aircraft-integrated passenger communications systems and services (phone, internet access services, live television programming, global positioning systems) prior to boarding and during all phases of flight.4. While over U.S. airspace, flight crew may not make any announcement to passengers concerning flight path or position over cities or landmarks.5. Passengers may not have any blankets, pillows, or personal belongings on the lap beginning 1 hour prior to arrival at destination.

AIRCRAFT OPERATOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The aircraft operator must immediately provide written confirmation to its assigned PSI indicating receipt of this SD.

AIRCRAFT OPERATOR dissemination required: The aircraft operator must immediately pass the information and directives set forth in this SD to all stations affected, and provide written confirmation to its PSI, indicating that all stations affected have acknowledged receipt of the information and directives set forth in this SD. The aircraft operator must disseminate this information to its senior management personnel, ground security coordinators, and supervisory security personnel at all affected locations. All aircraft operator personnel implementing this SD must be briefed by the aircraft operator on its content and the restrictions governing dissemination. No other dissemination may be made without prior approval of the Assistant Secretary for the Transportation Security Administration. Unauthorized dissemination of this document or information contained herein is prohibited by 49 CFR Part 1520 (see 69 Fed. Reg. 28066 (May 18, 2004).

APPROVAL OF ALTERNATIVE MEASURES: With respect to the provisions of this SD, as stated in 49 CFR 1544.305(d), the aircraft operator may submit in writing to its PSI proposed alternative measures and the basis for submitting the alternative measures for approval by the Assistant Administrator for Transportation Sector Network Management. The aircraft operator must immediately notify its PSI whenever any procedure in this SD cannot be carried out by a government authority charged with performing security procedures.

FOR TSA ACTION ONLY: The TSA must issue this SD immediately to the corporate security element of all affected U.S. aircraft operators.

FOR STATE DEPARTMENT: Retransmittal to appropriate foreign posts is authorized. Post must refer to STATE 162917, 201826Z Sep 01, Subject: FAA Security Directives and Information Circulars: Definitions and Handling, for specific guidance and dissemination.

"When a suspected terrorist is able to board a plane with explosives on Christmas Day, the system has failed in a potentially disasterous way." Obama press onference Jan 5, 2010

OK, so Obama has said that the lack of proper intelligence gathering and analysis caused the failure, "failure to connect the dots", he called it. The real question is what will he really do about it. There are some new policies in place--really extensions of stuff already there that failed to find the bomb on the Delta jet to Detroit--but what else does he plan to do? At least Bill Clinton would have blown up Yemen. Instead, Yemen will be punished by not having any more prisoners coming to them from Guantanamo. No mention of cutting of assistance of any kind--no mention of what he wants Yemen to do about the terrorist schools, and nobody fired for the stupidity that has revolving around his administration for two weeks.

Then there is the CIA...

Last week seven agents died from a weapon in the hands of a terrorist who, it turns out, was a double agent--working for al-Qaeda and, the CIA hoped, turned to work for us. Only he wasn't turned, and apparently the CIA didn't even know that he was a double agent. Two important questions here.

1- Why didn't they know about his double agency?

2-If they didn't know, then how could they have found out his real status so quickly?

There is a real cover-up here. Either the CIA knew or didn't, but they probably did and just thought they could turn him to their camp, and died for their efforts. This needs careful and candid investigation by some competant agency OTHER THAN the CIA itself.

Happy New Year to all. let's see what is happening on this aupicious occasion.

Rallies first...

You may recall the Iran rally in Tehran the other day that was decidedly pro-government. Of course, they provided a bus, lunch, and a bullet if you didn't attend 'voluntarilly.' Thousands who did not want to die chanted fervently in favor of the idiots running that country.

Now North Korea has been quick to respond. Huge rallies came out for New Year's day in the capital, Pyongyang and elsewhere. They also provided a bus, free lunch, a flag, and a picture of the 'dear leader' to wave. Wonder if they borrowed the buses from Iran?

The South Koreans hel their own rally near Panmunjom, the militarized border to protest the NK leadership. The poster says "Murderer Kim Jong-il."

In any case, the usual New Years message from the leadership, broadcast in the three major parrty daily newspapers (Which everyone apparently reads fervently while they are starving) proclaimed that it was time to cease hostilites and increase friendship with the US. Must be very cold in Korea right now--they usually start this kind of thing as people begin to both starve and freeze. Only the leadership and the army gets sufficient food, fuel, and other comforts. That's how 'democratic republics' work.

We should give neither country any compassion or assistance. Everytime we do, they lie their way out of agreements, or run a few cheap rockets into the air as if that is scaring anyone, other than themselves. Then they put themselves on alert as if they are about to be attacked. The media makes heyday out of it and the resulting publicity gets everyone edgy even more.

On to Israel...

China View, A Chinese online journal is reporting a story that Israel has decided to apply its version of the Bush Doctrine--grab someone, hold them without trial, deny them rights, and then hold them even after they get a trial--and is applying it to those that were arrested during the recent Gaza incursion and massacre. The Israeli parliament passed an 'illegal warrior' law that apprently allows them to do this., Two are being held from the lebanon incursion for no other reason to have bargaining chips on the soldier still held there. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been complaining to international bodies about the law, but to no avail.

An then to the inept would-be plane bomber..

President Obama has now decided, apparently on good evidence, that al-Qaeda is reponsaible for aborted bombing to the Delta jet coming into Detroit a week ago. You tube is showing a video, shown below on this issue.

Obama has also, according to the Associated Press, promised the alleged bomber a fair trial. That remains to be seen.

What a grerat start to the New Year. And, wehaven't even heard from Hillary Clinton or Jimmie Carter yet.

The trigger to the decade's woes did not come out of the sky over
Manhattan and Washington in 2001. There were many precursors, but they
were ignored or misinterpreted. Like the bombings in Madrid and London,
these attacks brought the best out of ordinary people – witness the
heroism of the New York firefighters – and the worst out of their
governments. Al-Qaida's attacks may have looked and felt like a declaration of war (the Guardian said so in its headline) but that, in retrospect, was the least appropriate reaction.

The quote above from today's issue of the Guardian (UK), along with the rest of the article that follows tells an important story and describes a perspective of the "War on Terror" that we don't often see in major media. Nonetheless, it is an important story, and bears quite a bit of thought.

Most of us who think in the mainstream (at least I like to think I do) would agree that the bombing in new York, Washington, London, Khobar, and elsewhere deserved a response that would inhibit or prevent future actions. Regrettably, those reactions resulted in no appreciable decrease in terror activities, and an appreciable increase in the types, intensity, and results of more recent activities. Just today (12/31) there are reports of a bomber blowing up a soldier and eight CIA agents, including the base chief, in Afghanistan. To most, these are men who died for their country, and to others they are needless deaths. it all depends on your perspective--and the Taliban perspective is decidedly in favor of more such actions.

As we go into the next decade of the 21st century, perhaps it is time to consider thinking and planning our reactions--and those of our coalition partners who are, after all, also losing valuable resources-- before we react to Taliban provocations. I'm not saying we should not react--only that we should assess first the near and possibly long term consequences of our actions--and not just be surprised and angry when they occur.

As most people now know (unless you have been in Antarctica in a blinding snow storm) a Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was allowed to board a Delta jet from Amsterdam bound for Detroit last weekend. This was despite a plea by his own father to the US Embassy to warn that his son was missing, had been taking training from al Qaeda, and was concerned that something would happen. This information was forwarded to the US State Department who did nothing with it (although later spinning seemed to indicate that information had been sent to the National Counterterrorism Center, who really decided to do nothing with it). Nor was the information coordinated with yet another report that spoke to young men trying to blow up planes with simple bombs that could be carried unnoticed onboard . This report, by the way, only finally arrived at DHS on Tuesday (12/29), after incident.

Janet Napolitano, the DHS Secretary, quickly spun up the issue further, indicating that an investigation would be held without at all indicating that she felt a serious breach had occured. Afteralll, according to napolitano, the bomb did not go off. Insterad, the would be-bomber only succeeded in setting himself on fire, and in a very private place that must have caused real pain.

Then the repurcussions...

The talk shows, evening news, and late night comics had a field day with the whole situation--some from a serious mode, and others who were less serious, but all brought the situation out as yet another failure of DHS and the TSA to really monitor and provide safety in the airways.

Several members of the former 9-11 Commission, such as former Governor Tom Kean of New Jersey, and Lee Hamilton, former Ohio Congressman also appeared on the air to say that they felt this situation was simply a continuation of the status quo. In their views, DHS had really done little over the longer term to increase safety, increase sharing of information among agencies, and paid little attention to data as it did come out.

Then the big gun, Former Vice President Dick Cheney, came out and asserted that the Obama Administration had been trying to forget that we are at war on terrorism. That stung the administration, having only just put the President on the airwaves to denounce the act and demand answers. The presidential Press Secretary quickly rebutted Cheney poorly, and even more spin started with the announcement that the president expected answers by December 31st from his agency leaders.

Future actions...

I believe the administration will continue to make noise--mostly spin--over the next several weeks. They already put out a new secret security policy that was quickly leaked to several bloggers, but there will be no major repurcussions to the political appointees. A couple of lower level career employees will get bashed, and some may resign, but that will be it--and then back to business as usual in this administration.

It doesn't have to be that way, but it will be unless there is a real, sustained uproar over airline safety and the broader question of continuing actively and intensively the War on Terror--even if Obama doesn't like the word.

TSA has issued subpoenas to two bloggers on travel to try and determine which of their own TSA employees leaked the new directive on increased security, the New York Times reported in yesterday's editions. As is usual with the TSA, their directives are supposed to be secret, even though they enforce them with the public. TSA special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, demanding that they reveal who leaked the security directive to them. Both claimed they had little information. Frischling claimed the document simply appeared in his e-mail, and Elliott indicated he would have a statement after talking to his attorney.

Here we go again, with agencies not talking to each other. Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, A Yemeni, managed to have a bomb on his person as he left Amsterdam on a Delta flight bound for Detroit, MI. He had secreted his bomb in his underwear. As the plane approached the airport in Detroit, this genius attempted to ignite the bomb and only succeeded in igniting himself--causing a small cabin fire and only God knows what damage to his private parts. He was subdued by a passenger and hauled away on arrival.

This was not an unknown situation. Authorities had been alerted b y this guy by his uncle, and he had already been interrogated by the FBI as a potential member of the same group as has been alleged to also have Major Hasan as a member. He was also on the terror watch list. In short, he should never have been on a plane to the US, at least. He also continued to hold a valid visa to the US.

Information on this guy was telegraphed from the US Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, to the State Department in November. It was also shared with the Interagency National Counterterrorism Center, who decided there was insufficient information to invalidate his visa. I can certainly understand that--everybody can't be on their lists--even though the Bush Administration tried, and the Obama Administration has continued, the policy of putting anyone on their they choose.

What does bother me is that no one found the bomb before he got on the plane. His name of the watch list should have caused an interview, at least, at the airport, and a search. Neither happened as far as can be determined. Of course, DHS Secretary Napolitano will 'get to the bottom of the circumstances' -- probably in about 6 months and no one will be fired or disciplined for the oversight.

Meanwhile, al Qaeda, or at least someone calling thmselves that, has taken credit for the whole affair. What a world, and what a great law enforcement community we have. They can't even talk to each other in the same language.

Science Daily reports in yesterday's edition that researchers at the University of Miami have developed a mathematical model for predicting violent attacks.

"Researchers and their collaborators analyzed the size and timing of 54,679 violent events reported in Afghanistan, Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Northern Ireland, Peru, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The findings show that there is a generic way in which humans carry out insurgency and terrorism when faced by a large powerful state force, and this is irrespective of background history, motivation, ideology, politics and location, explains Neil Johnson, principal investigator of the study and professor of Physics at the UM College of Arts and Sciences," according to the paper.

"We have found a unified model of modern insurgent wars that shows a fundamental pattern in the apparent chaos of wars," says Johnson. "In practical terms, our analysis can be used to create and explore scenarios, make predictions and assess risks, for present and future wars," they concluded. Read the entire story here.

Remember Mumbai

An Op-ed piece in the New York Times last month (Nov 25) by John Reid, the former UK Minister of Defense, uses the Mumbai anniversary as a cause for reflection on how terrorism continues to be a violent and looming force to be reckoned with around the world. The statistics are enormous. As Reid indicates, " Twelve months after Mumbai, it is clear that the terrorist threat will remain extremely serious globally for years to come. This is not, as some critics of Britain’s foreign and defense policies assert, primarily because of the “excesses” of Western policy since 9/11, especially in Iraq. This critique is a major misjudgment.

Indeed, according to the U.S. government’s Counterterrorism Center, approximately three quarters of the almost 11,800 terrorist incidents that took place across the world in 2008 (the latest full year for which data is available) took place outside the Iraqi theater.

Attacks in Africa, for instance, particularly in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rose markedly last year, accounting for some 2,200 fatalities. These are countries and areas where little or no connection to Iraq can be rationally claimed. " Read the entire piece here.

Hamas wants all of Palestine

The Philadelphia Examiner, in this morning's editions, began a series of articles on Hamas and the Palestine Question with an explosive obsewrvation.

"Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh declared that Hamas’ goal is to take over all of Palestine. That would include Israel," the paper reported in in opening. "Up to now, some Israelis talked themselves into believing that some elements in Hamas, such as Mr. Haniyeh, were moderate, just wanted the area beyond the Green Line, and would live in peace. Haniyeh’s declaration disproves it." The article goes on to discuss how both Hamas and Fatch have, at various times, been offered parts of what they want, usually behind the so-called green line, and failed to respond. Read the whole article here. Why are we surprised?

By now, virtually everyone who has not been in a deep cave or enclosed in heavy plastic has heard about the latest breach by TSA of its own security - the paper drop in court that ended up all over the Internet.

Everything started with a response by TSA to a suit that included a redacted copy of its screening manual. The document had been eletronically redacted rather than inked out, so copying the document to another page made the removal of the redactions easy to accomplish. Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of DHS i mmediately tried to cover up the fiasco by saying that the document was out-of-date anyway and no harm done. If that were the case then the opposing side in the court case needs to have a long talk with the judge on why they were provided faulty information.

Napolitano, testifying before a congressional oversight committee blamed everything on a contractor, but also said that several TSA/DHS employees were being disciplined for the breach of their own regulations. They did not announce who or what punishments were meted out, so its hard to tell if they are really concerned, or simply going through the motions as they usually do. Don't hold your breath on finding out either.

The government has a legitimate interest here in trying to keep the document -which has been bouncing around the Internet since - secret because it contains the prototcols that TSA uses to decide who gets screened, when, and to what degree -- information that could be invaluable to terrorists. The real solution to this breach is to make a clear example that another will not be tolerated. Cancel the contract and fire some employees -- if this were the military and some codes were compromised there would be real, swift, and substantial punishment for those involved. DHS should do the same and let it be know what punishments were imposed.

Several interesting pieces can be found in Fierce Government, a great site for accurate Fed news.

The Department of Homeland Security has announced a pla n to test Boston's maze of subways for possible biological terror dispersion by placing harmless dyes and and gases in twenty stations. That's a great study and its results could be applicable to many of the major cities of the country.

However, there is no mention of the possibility that the older parts of the subway system--long closed stations and track are going to be tested as well. These are the more insidious problem and are so often forgotten in major defense and homeland security drills. Yet, like Boston, many of the larger cities, such as New York, Chicago, and Atlanta have these no-longer used stations and track that should be periodically tested, explored and protected. i hope they will consider these as well to make the study even more valuable.

Its's Thanksgiving Day here in the US. Even if you don't celebrate it for any reason, it is a day to think and reflect on what has been happening in the world. So, here is a few of things to reflect on as we move quickly toward a new year.

The Anniversary of the Mumbai Attacks.

"Today is the first anniversary of the attacks on the buildings and hotels in Mumbai by Pakistani Terrorists (it is good remember that not all terrorist necessarily come from the same place, though). The Guardian describes the events of the day in its reporting today.

The first anniversary of last year's terror assault on Mumbai was marked today by a show of strength from the city's security services and a series of ceremonies to remember the 166 people killed by 10 Pakistani Islamist gunmen.

Police marched from the Trident hotel in Mumbai, scene of a hostage drama a year ago, and abseiled down prominent buildings. The security forces paraded armour-plated vehicles, machine guns and amphibious craft – part of a 1.3bn rupee (£16m) upgrade approved after the security forces' ineffectual response to last year's attack.

Religious leaders and diplomats gathered for a candle-lit memorial service in the city's synagogue.

"We will not let the terrorists deter us," said Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, who is in charge of rebuilding Chabad House, a Jewish centre where six people were killed. "We will continue with the full faith in God that he will protect us."

The two luxury hotels attacked, the Taj and the Trident, both took out full-page newspaper advertisements praising staff and thanking guests. "We offer our heartfelt gratitude … Today we take a step forward. Tomorrow we'll take many more," ran the words."

Things have since quieted down in India, but the threat from their neighbor's terrorist front is still real, as is their own home-growm varities that occasionbally raise their heads. Read the rest of the story here

The travels of Ahmadinejad - Brazil

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting today on the visit of the Iranian president to Brazil and his effusive welcome by President da Silva. They point out that da Silva is actually doing what Obama only suggests should happen--discuss major issues without preconditions, and is apparently having some success. da Silva seems to recognize the inerent dangers but is willing to try.

The Montitor story, written by Taylor Barnes, suggests that real discussions, rather than the rhetoris of the Obama Administration thus far, may produce more real results over time--even with a country that exports terror, rigs elections, and persecutes those opposing the country's leadership. it may also represent an effort by other countries to begin to enter the dialogues ongling on terrorism and middle east peace that so far seem to elude resolution by the major powers. The story is a great treatment of what can happen when leaders want to start their conversations in earnest. Read it here.

Holder's Decision on the Detainees

Criticism of Attorney General Holder's decision to try Khalid Mohammed and others in New York Federal Court conti nues to be pilloried in the press--as it was today in the Washington Post. It has not helped, of course, that both he and the president have made it clear that these guys will be tried, convicted and executed--after a fair trial, of course. From my perspective, there is too much of a possibility that their trials could be thrown out by the judge. Of course, Holder has already said that even if they are not found guilty it would only mean their return to Guantanamo or elsewhere.

What is happening here can only produce a huge black eye for the US. It would have been more prudent to give them a kind of trial in a military copmmission and then execute them. That's done in wartime. To bring them to a civilian court and risk the possibility that they will not be convicted, but still sent to prison would be disasterous for the country that prides itself on exporting democracy and the rule of law to the world. The US has so little credibility now, that erosion of any more may eventually make us irrelevant.

Perhaps the government will reconsider before the trial starts. It would be wise to do so.

There is a website, Right Side News, which often has information on the continuing conflict between Israel and the palestinians. Their latest reports deal with rockt attacks and responses. The statistics are very illuminiating. I have included their graph on mortars and rockets here.

My one criticism is that, while they have charts and graphs for Arab rockets, but not for Israeli rockets and bombs in reponse. That would complete the story. Nonetheless, it has a lot of good information and a great read. See it here

I spend too much time pointing out the stupidity of the TSA and its parent the DHS. There is a lot to write about this far from needed or successful cabinet agency.

However, down at the people level, once in a while a light shines through the otherwise murky mist.

Returning from a trip to Salt lake on Monday, I arrived at Reagan National in DC and started to exit the Delta Terminal when I saw a uniformed TSA agent helping a soldier in fatigues. Not unusual, since there are a lot of soldiers in uniform going through the airports these days. However, it quickly became obvious that this soldier walked with a limp, and carried a cane. Also not unusual. Then I saw the dark glasses, and heard some of the conversation going on between the agent and the soldier--who was obviously vision-impaired. The agent was helping the soldier get through the screening area--explaining each of the steps, and helping him with his backpack and other things he carried.

I remembered back to my first trip home during the Vietnam-era and the total lack of any kind of help then. You were more likely to be spit on than assisted by anybody. But things have changed, and for the better.

I wish I had gone over to get the agent's name so that I could tell everybody about a real hero of an otherwise onerous process---one that is probably necessary but not normally well done by TSA. I know the soldier thanked him, but I wanted to do as well.

Eileen Sullivan, writing for the Associated Press on October 29th, discussed the emerging problems of security at the nation's airports, even with new technology. Sullivan writes,

"Most of the decisions to introduce new passenger screening devices at airports have been based on threats described in intelligence reports. While this is important, the Government Accountability Office said these threats also need to be measured against how vulnerable air systems are to them and against the full consequences if the threat were successfully carried out."

"The auditors said the Transportation Security Administration has not completed this full assessment of threat, vulnerability and consequences together. As a result, TSA cannot get a complete picture of the potential risk from any particular threat and it cannot be sure that its investments in screening devices address the greatest risks to aviation, the auditors said."

TSA and its parent have done this before--spend large amounts of money on what may be faulty s cience and then try to fix the mess. Remember the sniffer machines? How about the enhanced X-rays to ensure that shoes with steel stiffeners weren't weapons? There are others as well--all procured based on specific incidents, such as that crazy Reed in Chicago with the shiv in his shoe. None of them worked, and now we have an even newer generation introduced apparently without proper testing, evaluation, and risk assessment by competant bidies outside DHS.

Cyber Security in Utah?

DHS and NSA have announced the creation and development of a new National Cyber Security Center, to be built at Camp WIlliams outside Salt lake City, according to a report from Daily Tech. The new Center will "Help combat the risk of cyber security threats," says the announcement. "The NSA is set to build a new $1.5 billion cyber security data center to help provide intelligence and warnings related to cyber security threats across the government. InformationWeek reports that the NSA will soon break ground on the project in Utah. The data center will also support and help civilian agencies and offer technical assistance to the Department of Homeland Security."

Did anyone other than DHS know that October was National Cybersecurity Awareness Month? Did anyone get the tee shirt? Please let me know. I must have missed all the secret ceremonies. if anyone has an extra tee shirt, size XL, i am willing to trade.

Stimulus Spending by DHS Under Scrutiny--or is it?

Another article for the Associated Press by Eileen Sullivan (October 24th) discusses the latest attempt by DHS to defend some of the incredible stimulus awards, such as the money that went to ACORN in Louisiana for fire prevention, and, not surprisingly came up empty.

The DHS Inspector General was instructed not to look beyond the list itself--the spending plan-- because the Department was conducting its own internal review. The IG came back in saying they (DHS) had a spending plan and it appeared OK, but did not look at specific grants. The Department later came out with its own report that said everything about the grants was OK--except, of course, the ACORN Grant. Just incredible. What happened to the independence of the Departmental IG's that is supposed to be protected by law? Read about this ridiculous situation here.

I wrote this in response to an article in Alex Jones Prison Planet in which he discussed the potential effects of the DHS taking over the Internet, ostensively to protect the ability to use the Internet in the case of a major flu pandemic. A good read for those who are increasingly concerned about the socialist slant of the present government.

The potential epidemic is, of course, a deep concern for business, commerce, and government. To a greater extent each year, we rely on the Internet for nearly every possible action that was formerly conducted manually or in person.

However, to give the Government, and especially DHS, the unfettered right to control it for the sake of the flu or anything else is a bit disconcerting. The Government, of course, contends that it is uniquely capable of providing the levelso of cybersecurity needed--from the lips of the same people who have the worst record on the planet for protection of their own sites.

Then there is the other site of the coiun. Obama asks that we trust him and his DHS people--this from the latest person to run for the highest office in the land who has broken EVERY promise made to the American public and driven us closer to socialism than at any time since WWII.

DHS and NSA have been trying for years to take over the Internet--this is just another aspect of this driving ambition to be in charge of our thoughts and words. Sure sounds like socialism to me.

In a show that the strength the US and Pakistan claimed was being reduced might not be as great as suggested, militants (as yet unidentified) took over buildings in the Pakistani Military HQ outside Islamabad yesterday. The Pakistani Armed Forces spokesman originally indicated that the HQ was back in their control, but later had to admit that one set of buildings still contained militants, along with hostages.

The Zazi investigation continues to be played out in the press--something that is becoming more and more common with the FBI . At this rate, there will be little left for the trial. Perhaps we need to proceed directly to the sentence.

Fox News reports that his friend Naiz Khan, has also complained of the intense harassment by the FBI, putting hin on 24 hour surveillance and costing him and others their freedom and livliehood. Isn't that interesting. Zazi lived with this guy while planning whatever it is he is alleged to have planned, and this guy thinks he should be entirely free to walk the streets. He also complains that Muslims in general are being harmed by this investigation. Since the investigators have found no one named Kelly, Jones, anything else but Arab-sounding names, perhaps there is a reason to target Khan and his friends. My only problem is that every tidbit immeditely comes out in the media and the accused or surveilled have no chance to defend themselves.

Guantanamo..

Congress has relented and appears to be headed toward allowing some Guantanamo 'guests' to be transported to the US for trial. We previously reported that Congress was writing legislation to deny funds to the President and DoD to close Guantanamo--something Obama decided would be his first action as President on Inauguration Day. However, our well-paid legislators don't want these prisoners in 'their' state.

I certainly understand their (The Congress' ) reasoning on this. Would you, as a politician with better than a 50-50 chance to be jailed yourself want someone praying the Koran in the cell next to you? Of course you don't. But then Congressmen and Senators would go to plushy jails anyway--certainly not the ones that would house those so-called terrorists.

Have a great weekend. Celebrate Columbus Day--remember his discovery started terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.

(October 7th) UPDATED We are pleased to announce our periodic Stupid Awards--given to people and organizations that have shown by their actions that they deserve to be publicly humiliated--for being just plain stupid.

The Stupid Awards

The first award goes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for its award grant to ACORN--the agency that everybody loves to hate. After a long history of embezzlement by officers, mispending of funds, cheating on voter registrations, and generally defauding the Government, DHS's FEMA decided on September 22nd to use Fire Prevention Grant Funds (That could have gone to legitimate fire prevention organizations) allocated to Louisiana to ACORN--denying the funding to several small fire departments who had legitimate grant applications pending.

During the day, FEMA accounced that the grant would not be awarded after--actually they froze it having already awarded it--and that ACORN would never receive the money. it is still unclear if the award will be formally revoked.

The real problem here is how ACORN got the grant award in the first place. Their staff are not fire prevention experts in any form. A number of local fire departments had proposals in the pile and these are professionals in this area. Yet, FEMA chose to deny their applications to award the leargest one in the state to ACORN. You figure out the logic here.

Congratulations to FEMA for showing that stupidity in management can still lead to the Horn of Plenty.

This has been an interesting week. Riots in Pittsburgh, and elsewhere over the global economy as the richest nations met in Puttsburgh to discuss the issues over filet and caviar. The US wanted everything to be exaclty perfect, so they sent in every police officer they could find to push, shove, and tear gas protesters and keep them from the immediate area of the festivities. That is democracy in action at its best!.

Elsewhere, on a more serious note, the The Atlantic Wire has an excellent commentary on how the US should engage with Iran over the nuclear issue, and other, broader issues. They logically infer that we actually have little control over how Iran progresses--sanctions aren't working, and short of bombing strikes, we are better off conducting real discussions with them. That seems almost too logical to be real. Perhaps another visit from Hilary to the neighboring countries to talk trash about iran would help.

Speaking of the Clintons, there is an article on TodaysTHV.com that brings up the issue of the possibility of an al Quada attack on Arkansas--at the Clinton Library of all places. Not completely sure why that is important since Prez Bill's yellow streak over Iraq-Iran is well known--although he claims to be the first to recognize the Global War on terror (GWOT)--ALL HE REALLY DID WAS HIDE FROM IT. So, it beats me why anyone would want to bomb his library. There is not much there, unless you want to the see all the criminal pardons he awarded for campaign funds for his wife, or perhaps Monica's dress--is it there? The police in Little Rock are working hard to protect it in case something does happen. Perhaps the iranians will drop one of their missles on it.

The mosat serious, and yet the saddest story of the week is that of poor General McCrystal in Afghanistan. Commander-in-chief and brilliant military tactician Obama 'lost faith' in the previous commander and sacked him in favor of the current guy because they thought we were losing control of the country (Something we never had to begin with). So, they sent in the cavalry with General M and he looked over the situation, decided that more troops were needed if we were to even have a chance to win, and sent on his report. Now he is in the doghouse for doing what he was supposed to do--win. The Assistant Commander-in-chief and slightly less brilliant tactitican Joe Biden has also carefully evaluated the situation with one brief vist to the war szone and decided we should reduce the troops strength and concentrate on al Quada. Sonmehow I thought that was what we were doing over there. of course, I don't have the intelligence of Biden or the extensive experience of Obama. I only know what I read in the papers.

Finally, give it a few days and the Israelis are probably going to do something stupid--like try to bomb the Iranian missile sites and factories. Then all hell will break loose over there and we will sucked into something we don't want. We will go in and fight with them because the Israel Lobby will tell us to, and this administration follows their plays to the letter. Just think about Hillary in a Kevlar helmet as she defends the state Department. A powerful picuture of a perful politican.

DHS has finally announced the demise of the puffer machines--the so-called sniffers at the airport departure areas that sniffed you our for bombs and other things. They puffed air on you and then analyzed it. Unfortunately, they never discovered anything, the machines cost too much money, and DHS had stuck the airports with the bill.

I remember at Boston's Logan Airport seeing the first one--actually hearing the commotion when a college-age student went in and passed gas while enclosed inside. it created a great commotion as he exited. The contractors, as usual, made moeny, and the Government got nothing in return but a big machine that was not even as good as a Narc dog.

Good riddance. Now on to the next hair-brained scheme from the geniuses at TSA.

TSA still has the shoe fetish and further screws up their departure areas with their new policy on shoes. All will remember that early in Dubya years, you had to take off your shoes because you could have some kind of bomb in the soles--like the one person they found in Chicago. Then the Secretary of Homeland Security decreed that policy would change, but his field staff paid not attention to his edit. SHoes still had to come off and go into a basket to be x-rayed.

Now they have a new policy that the shoes still have to come off, but can't go in a basket and, instead, have to go through the machines loose. Leaving Reagan Airport the other morning, at least three pairs of shoes ahead of us got stuck in the machines because of the jerk-on-jerk-off methods the examiners use to control their views on their monitor. It was clear the policy had not be thought through, but it was also clear that the agencys really did not care how efficient their process might be to the travellers.

Cyber Security And That New Czar Smell

The White House has postponed the rollout of Michelle Hathaway's national cyber security review for scheduling conflicts, we were told last week. As of this morning, the administration offered no guidance about the announcement, or whether any concrete policy recommendations will accompany it.

Judging from Hathaway's remarks last week, administration officials aren't ready to make the key decisions, including budget size, procurement procedure, operational authority, scope and even how best to sell the new entity to the public. Major defense and IT contractors may be frustrated with the lack of detail.

From press reports and some of my own reporting, it does appear that the governing authority for cyber security will rest within the White House, that he Department of Homeland Security will be tasked with creating, from the existing National Cyber Security Center, a large operational entity, and that NSA will play a significant support role.

Various cyber security elements from across the government, with the notable exception of the Department of Defense, will be pulled into this new entity. (Read the rest of the story here...)

We wrote yesterday about the emerging Cyber Security Office in the White House rather than at DoD/NSA where it should be. Still an evolving mess at the usually bungling White House.

May 4, 2009 (Computerworld)Critics raised questions last week about the growing chorus of calls for the White House to play a leading role in coordinating cybersecurity efforts involving the federal government and key private-sector industries.

For instance, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, said at a hearing on cybersecurity strategies that putting the White House in charge would make it harder for Congress to oversee policies and budgets.

The president rightly should be responsible for "declaring [cyber] war," with input from Congress, Collins said. But for overall cybersecurity leadership, she suggested that the government use as a model the National Counterterrorism Center, which was set up in 2004. The NCTC is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a setup that allows Congress to play a role, Collins said. (The rest of the story is here...)

The question of cybersecurity--a part of a larger, overall plan for protecting the cyber resources of the Nation, is forming between the White House and the Congress. While both agree that the office should be established in the Executive Branch, there are clear differences on how much control and oversight should be exercised by Congressional committees.

From a personal perspective, the Congressional critics are right--the previous administration took too much control in the name of War and National Security. That balance between the two branches needs to be re-established, and quickly. Cybersecurity is a good issue to start that process.

Among the suggestions for improving federal cyber security that were proposed at a hearing by the Senate Homeland Security Committee Tuesday, one that appeared to garner a fair amount of interest from lawmakers had to do with the use of government buying power to boost security.

The suggestion from Alan Paller, director of research at the Bethesda, Md.-based SANS Institute is one that is shared by several others within government and outside it as well. The basic premise is that the government which purchases over $70 billion worth of IT products a year can use its enormous buying power to force vendors to make their products more secure.

Most often, cyber criminals and foreign adversaries are able to penetrate systems and networks because of common programming errors and insecure configuration issues that are pretty well understood at this point but which vendors keep repeating all the same in their products. So getting them to fix these issues before they are permitted to sell into government is a surefire way to improve security and reduce costs, says Paller.

The contentious issue of cybersecurity, particuarly against government systems, truly needs a new approach. Perhaps this is one--make the manufacturer actually prove that their securitry WORKS before cthe government buys it. What a novel approach!

The US government has admitted the nation's power grid is vulnerable to cyber attack, following reports it has been infiltrated by foreign spies.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) newspaper reported that Chinese and Russian spies were behind this "pervasive" breach. It said software had been left behind that could shut down the electric grid.

"The vulnerability is something [we] have known about for years," said US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "We acknowledge that... in this world, in an increasingly cyber world, these are increasing risks," Ms Napolitano added. She refused to comment on the WSJ story that an intrusion had taken place, but security experts said they were not surprised by the claims. More here...

More on a previous report in the DHS world according to Secretary Napolitano. Yet another mess started by the Bush Administration to be fixed.

A Transportation Security Administration official compromised the covert testing of airport security screeners by sending out an e-mail about the testing and did not report the compromise, according to a report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general.

An unidentified official in TSA's Office of Security Operations sent out an e-mail on April 28, 2006, that contained the subject line "Notice of Possible Security Test," according to the report, which is dated March 20 and released on Friday. The message warned TSA employees that the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Department were conducting a secret test in April 2006 of airport security checkpoints at Jacksonville International Airport in Florida. The e-mail also contained information about how the test was to be carried out and the physical appearance of officials doing the testing, and it warned TSA employees to pay attention to passengers' identification. Rest of the story is here..

There seems to be a continuing effort by DHS to ensure that their tests and security reviews are always successful. We have previously reported these issues, and continue to do so. Unfortunately, DHS announces the findinds and never does anything about it.

The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement agencies that recent news is helping "right-wing extremist groups" recruit new members and could lead to violence, and warns about the possible recruitment and radicalization of returning veterans.

DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis issued an intelligence assessment last week that said it has no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence, but right-wing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on fears about the recession and the election of the first African American president. The office called them "unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment."

"Right-wing extremists have capitalized on the election of the first African American president, and are focusing their efforts to recruit new members, mobilize existing supporters and broaden their scope and appeal through propaganda, but they have not yet turned to attack planning," the assessment reads.

"The current economic and political climate has some similarities to the 1990s when right-wing extremism experienced a resurgence fueled largely by an economic recession, criticism about the outsourcing of jobs and the perceived threat to U.S. power and sovereignty by other foreign powers.," it continues. (Read the rest of the story here... )

Perhaps there IS a vast right wing conspiracy--at least according to Homeland Security. An interesting article and a SHOULD READ.

The U.S. power grid hack conducted by cyberspies did not result in an attack, but experts say that the issue underscores the vulnerability of electrical and other infrastructure connected to the Internet.

The hack to the electrical grid, which was first reported in The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, was found after malware--malicious software--was discovered on workstations that appeared to come from Russia, China and "other countries," the report said. Officials said that the malware had the potential to destroy components of the system, according to the Journal.

While the hack didn't appear to target one particular company or region, officials indicated that the malware could be used to navigate and take control of the U.S. electrical system. Attackers would then have the power to disrupt the system or destroy power infrastructure altogether in times of war, the Journal reported. Read the rest of the story here..

This item that appeared in ChannelWeb should scare the be-Jesus out of every American. Our reliance on the Power Grid for our national Infrastructure is nearly total, and dmage to it would cripple the normal American way of life.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department said yesterday it would distribute $970 million to private firms and state, local and tribal governments through a host of disaster preparedness grant programs (see GSN, July 28, 2008).

The fiscal 2009 funds bring the total amount provided over seven years to more than $26.7 billion "to strengthen our nation's ability to prevent, protect, respond and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies," the agency said in a press release. read the rest of the story here..

The GTN Global Security newswire is a great source for mateiral on Homeland Security, and its associated issues. it should be an ADD to your reference list in this area.

Ghost hackers infiltrating the computers of Tibetan exiles and the U.S. electric grid have pulled the curtain back on 21st-century espionage as nefarious as anything from the Cold War — and far more difficult to stop.

Nowadays, a hacker with a high-speed Internet connection, knowledge of computer security and some luck can pilfer information thought to be safely ensconced in a digital locker. And the threat is growing, with countries — including the U.S. — pointing fingers at each other even as they ramp up their own cyber espionage.

The Pentagon this week said it spent more than $100 million in the last six months responding to damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems. And the White House is wrapping up a 60-day review of how the government can better use technology to protect everything from the nation's electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems and nuclear launch codes. Read the whole story..

Great article on the myriad of ways to cyber spy, and what DHS is doing about it. A MUST READ!

It's been some time since I commented on TSA at the airports. Today is an exception. My wife and I were on our way to Boston and had to go through the TSA secure are outside the Delta Terminal. That was an experience.

First, there were not more than 10 people trying to progress through that mess. There were (Counting) 38 employees wiating to descend in blue shirts (The TSA uniform). That should have sped things up, but that was a very mistaken first impression.

Second, the guy at the x-ray either did not know what he was doing or could only scan poorly. he scanned both my carryon bags - one had clothes and toiletry bag and the other my books and computer stuff. The computer bag he let through fairly quickly (Even with the bag of wiring, disks, etc that usually cause delay.) Instead, he zeroed in on my clothes bag, for which he called a bag check. Another employee came over to look and told him that it was clearly a toiletry bag. he said he wanted it scanned and checked anyway. So, out of the short line I came to have her check for something she quickly said she did not understand. Found the toiletry bag, and then took everything BACK to the original scanner and sent it through again. By then, a crowd had started to form and he passed everything through.

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION NEEDS TO RELAIZE THAT TSA IS AN AGENCY BADLY IN NEED OF EDUCATION, TRAINING, REORGANIZATION, SIMPLIFICATION, AND INTELLIGENCE. It has none of these currently in its invetory.

USA Today reported on December 23rd that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to start a program to monitor blogs on terrorism in the hopes that they find information of how terrorists are planning and executing their activities. They are actively looking for contractors who can research the blogs for needed information.

The article does not discuss how DHS expects to find information that it can use, except to say, "Blogging and message boards have played a substantial role in allowing communication among those who would do the United States harm."

The article quotes Hsinchun Chen, director of the University of Arizona's Artificial Intelligence Lab, who says, "There is a lot of IED information generated by terrorists everywhere — websites, forums, people telling you where to buy fertilizer and how to plant IEDs." Chen's "Dark Web" research project has found 500,000,000 terrorist pages and postingsso far, including tens of thousands that discuss IEDs.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have been hiding information, or changing its content, before submitting information to probers on information sharing among enforcement agencies, according to an article in the Washington Times (8-24-07). Sara Carter of the Times writes that "DHS administators--fearing additional scrutiny--concealed from Federal investigators information sharing breakdowns that left the US vulnerable to terrorists.."

Then US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) General Counsel Dea Carpenter wrote in a memo to employees, "We better be ready to provide evidence and name names because this type of statment is the height of the post 9-11 criticisms." Rather than bring out into the open ongoing failures to share data between DHS agencies and the FBI, among others, references were simply dropped from the information submittals. The DHS Inspector General reports, eventually released catalogued major information sharing problems among the DHS Agencies, such as the Border Patrol, Immigration & Customs Enforment (ICE), and also revealed the problems with the FBI. ICE agents have been avoiding pursuing terrorist cases because of disputes with the FBI, according to the article. Many of the disputes involved participation in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, chaired by the FBI, which is designed to investigate in depth terrorist actions in the US.

It is this type of petty squabbling that the creation of DHS was supposed to smooth out. Now it seems that they are a part of the problem rather than part of an eventual solution.

Michael Chertoff, the ever-present, and ever incompetant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is at it again. The Department just published new rules, as reported in the Washington Times today (8/30/2007), that employers will now have only 90 days to reconcile differences between their records and the historically inaccurate Social Security Database. If employers cannot reconcile differences in that time, they are expected to fire the employee or face Federal prosecution, according to rules published in the Federal Register, which go into effect on September 14th. A wide range of public groups, ranging from the AFL-CIO, the ACLU, and employer associations have challenged the rules in the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.

The distain with which his department views the business community is best expressed by his spokeman, Russ Knocke who is quoted as saying that the department knew there would be some 'pain and pushback' in the reforms. "The list of signatures tells you why immigration reform has been hard, and why we often face enforcement challenges. Still, we're going to restore public credibility on enforcement." I would argue that restoring credibility is a function of getting rid of Chertoff and bringing in a professional that understands the needs of the various parties and is willing to fashion compromise. DHS, since its inception has created only incompetance and opposition in the commercial community with its wide-spread actions in several areas, in addition to immigration.

For Chertoff, this is the latest caper in his career, which also includes hiring a horse breeder as his General Counsel, gutting the independence of both the Immigration Service, the Border Patrol, and the Customs Service, and his premier failure with FEMA assistance during Hurrican Katrina. You may also remember Chertoff for his toothpaste rules, and his abject failure in getting the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) to establish meaningful regulations that don't hurt the working, travelling public.

His abject failure as a Federal executive (In many eyes other than Bush, that is) would normally have meant he was gone long ago, but not so in this administration--he is the leading candidate to become the new Hitler at the Department of Justice, a role he should fit admirably.

The newspapers and other media have been reporting for days on the 15-year old who was able to purchase an airplane ticket on Alaska Airlines in Juneau, Alaska recently, and then actually get on a plane and depart without any identification whatever. The latest report, on Good Morning America (ABC) asked several pertinent questions of TSA and got the usual stupid responses.

TSA alleged that the passenger was 'appropriately screened' and 'determined not to be a threat', and so was allowed to travel. It seems that TSA rules do not require identification of those under 18 years of age. The pertinent questions is how to determine if the person is under 18 without consulting the forms of identification required of, we thought, all travelers. No, TSA simply took her word for it--or, at least, the airline did, and TSA went along. She was later apprehended in the US, and sent to a juveline detention center for stealing the money from her parents to purchase the ticket.

Bells should have gone off all over the place in this incident. First, there was the wad of small, unmarked bills to buy the ticket. If she truly was 15, where did she get the money? Then, the lack of ID. Who was she? Was she actually who she said she was? Did she have permission to be travelling? We understand that children over a certain age can travel unaccompanied, but had she her parents permission? In this case, the resounding answer was NO.

The final, and most important question is how was she screened? What TSA preocedures were followed in this instance? If there were procedures that allowed this, they need to be changed.

TSA is supposed to be protecting the public. Many people look younger than they really are, and need to be screened to determine their actual status. This was one case where, in our view, the screening procedure became a joke.

Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI, is coming under criticism for routinely using an agency jet, authorized for transporting dangerous terrorism suspects, for his travel around the country, and internationally. The Free Internet Press began reporting the story on June 12th, in its online editions.

FBI officials acknowledged to the Washington Post that Mueller's use of the Gulfstream is a marked departure from the travel practices of his predecessors, such as Louis J. Freeh,who flew commercially or used a smaller Cessna Citation jet. They said that Mueller's aides first check with the counterterrorism division to make sure the Gulfstream is not needed for terrorism operations, and that the Justice Department approves each flight.

They also said that Mueller's logistical and security advisers have urged him to use the plane routinely. "It's not like he is the one checking the box for which plane he uses," said Assistant Director John Miller. "He is the CEO of the FBI's part in the war on terror. That means every trip he makes - whether to rally the troops in field offices, to negotiate agreements with partners overseas or to explain to the public the changing threats and solutions - furthers the operational mission of the bureau."

"FBI officials acknowledged to the Washington Post that Mueller's use of the Gulfstream is a marked departure from the travel practices of his predecessors, such as Louis J. Freeh,who flew commercially or used a smaller Cessna Citation jet," said the Free Press article. Continuing, they said that "Mueller's aides first check with the counterterrorism division to make sure the Gulfstream is not needed for terrorism operations, and that the Justice Department approves each flight. "

They also said that "Mueller's logistical and security advisers have urged him to use the plane routinely. "It's not like he is the one checking the box for which plane he uses," said Assistant Director John Miller. "He is the CEO of the FBI's part in the war on terror. That means every trip he makes - whether to rally the troops in field offices, to negotiate agreements with partners overseas or to explain to the public the changing threats and solutions - furthers the operational mission of the bureau."

The plane costs were included in appropriations, and supported by testimony that the plane would be used in the anti-terrorism effort. Apparently, speeches by Mueller qualify in that regard.

Meanwhile, John Kerry, Senator from Massachusetts and former presidential candidate is in the news with his views on new approaches to the war on terror. The Democratic Daily is reporting an article by Patricia Leavey that discusses a speech by mr. Kerry at Johns Hopkins University on June 14th, where he laid out a new framework for the war on terror. His current interest is the American Security Project, and it was in that context that he decided to address the question that periodically pops up in democratic campaign rhetoric. 'Are we safer today than on September 11th.' ofcourse, if you are a democrat, and especially one that still has ambitions to be president, then you know the answer to that question. Read it all on the Democratic Daily.

Sometimes you have to dig to get some good quotes. Take the June 18th speech of former president Bill Clinton to the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, MI, where he indicated his thoughts that the 21st century will be far less deadly than the 20th century. "We'll actually have to work very hard to kill as many people in the 21st century. What's the difference? This time, you think the victim could be you." Interesting words from the man who left terrorism tohis successors. By the way, Hilary was apprently not at the dinner to hear the speech. You can read the article here.

To be fair, the Republicans are also creating terrorism conspiracies they can use in their campaign rhetoric. Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, has his own theory on what the Clinton administration did or did not do during the 90's on its watch. Afternet, reporting on a speech Giuliani gave in late June at Regent University in VA, quotes Giuliani as saying that the statement that Clinton 'failed to respond' to al-Quada attacksis wrong. Instead, his administration saw these attacks, to include the first Towers bombing as criminal acts rather than terrorism acts. Read the whole story here.

DHS has been busily spending over $1.3 Billion, thus far, on a new VISIT-US project to control the inflow and exit of visitors to the US, in order to better track those who overstay their temporary welcome. However, at least according to Government Executive, all is not well between DHS and the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives.

In a GoveExec Brief, by Chris Strohm ("Homeland Security Panel Demands PLan for Visitor Tracking Project"), dated April 4th, the continuing saga is laid out in detail. The House Committee wants the strategic plan that governs the project; expected it a long time ago (Read nearly two years); and has not received it. SO, they gave DHS a week to produce it, and the cost data supporting it. The committee included in proposed legislation a prohibition on deploying the system to a new security directorate at DHS until the plan is submitted and reviewed.

DHS responded by saying that 'parts of the plan' had already been submitted, and the rest will be shortly. They also announced that VISIT-US had already been transferred to the new directorate. That ought to raise eyebrows in the Homeland Security Committee.

VISIT-US is a complex, and expensive systems designed to keep track of aliens through biometics-such as electronic fingerprint or eye scan. it has become the latest of a number of DHS initiatives that are endless abysses, in terms of spending dollars, without any guarantee that control will improve. Remember the' blow machines', designed to search out drugs or explosives, that proved too expensive to put in very many airports? This initiative is quickly going the same way.

Read the article at GovExec to get the broader story, and related links.

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security put out a lot of proessure on the Congress to pass REAL-ID driver's license as a means of creating and maintaining more secure identification sources across the country. At least, that is what they said then, as the legislation passed to place another $23 Billion in state-funded, but Federally mandated programs. What eventually happened, as DHS eventually published proposed regulations is quite different, at least according to FindLaw, a national law reporting agency.

In a recent paper, Anita Ramasastry, a staff writer with FIndLaw, examined the provisions of the new proposed regulations, and, frankly, found them wanting in several crfitical areas.

IDENTITY THEFT - One of the critical reasons for pushing the passage of the Act. DHS now claims, in its recent publication of proposed regulations, that "DHS believes that it would be outside its authority to address this issue within this rulemaking." That leaves the States holding the bag on a lew law that isn't much better than the old, and still does not lead to uniform identity theft protection.

PROPER DOCUMENTATION - Another major 'sticking area' in the new regulations. DHS insists that it needs to check every single document produced in support of a REAL-ID driver license application. That will create major delays, when other, less onorous means, particularly electronic verifications, are available. That would be less costly to the states who, by the way, have to do the verifications. There is no funding for this program from DHS.

ENTRANCE TO FEDERAL FACILITIES - Another 'problem' that DHS has created. As Ms. Ramasastry points out, the very people that most need to go to Federal facilities are those with the greatest difficulty in securing identification documents on which to get the REAL-ID License. Might make it easier for DHS, but no very useful to the poor, and those on other types of Federal or State benfits or entitlements.

These regulations are only in the proposal stage. However, under this administration, any public comment usually goes onto deaf ears, so much of what is in the proposal package will be issued, whether it makes sense or not. There is still time to comment, and the public should do so.

Homeland Security issued a contract to a firm--Golden Gate Construction--to build a part of the Great Wall of the Southwest--designed to keep out illegal immigrants. In the past few weeks, the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency, part of DHS, raided the site and found that illegal workers were building the wall designed to keep them out. The owner of the firm has now entered into a plea agreement that will cost the company $5 million, and he gets home s\detention, and community service.

The interesting part of this story is that the old Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) visited the firm in 1999, found a number of illegal immigrants, and told the company to fire them. A subsequent visit still found illegals. Apparently, building the Great Wall is so important that the contracting office was not told--or simply disregarded--the previous infractions, and awarded Golden Gate the contract anyway--without any further investigation.

So here you have it--building the Great Wall with illegals is cheaper, faster, and costs no benefits to the firm. Individual illegals are usually jailed until they can be returned, but the president of Golden Gate gets home detention and community service for his continuing infractions. There was no word in today's news that the contract with Golden Gate had been cancelled.

Several recent events, citing Homeland Security as the reasoning, have shown once again that things have to change in the way the Government wastes the taxpayer's money.

Take the recent event in Brunswick MD, where the police conducted a 'homeland security' sweep of the railroad station, arrested two people for undetermined infractions, ticketed over 25 cars, and issued warnings of various kinds to 60 others. Sounds more like the city and state needed traffic violation money to me. The Frederick News Post reported on the incident.

Meanwhile, DHS reported the discussions on an agreement with the British Columbis Provincial Government to end passport requirements, or at least provide an alternative to the requirement. That leaves Mexico as the largest beneficiary ofan expensive and ill-conceived program, once the pilot is extended to Canada as a whole. Guess what is proposed as thealternative--a driver's license.

Military.Com is reporting that DHS is considering the useof unmanned drones to protect airports from terrorism. It seems that they are considering placing the drones at levels above 50,000 feet, and expect that they will respond with precision to any attack. That assumes, of course, that the people they hire to do the work aren't coming from theunemployment lines, as did most of the dedicated workers at TSA. That will mean the cast of the rude and inconsiderate will be joined by computers to manage the nation's airport security.

Finally, in a continuing act of stupidity that started with their so-called expedited clearnance program in the airports (That's where people could agree to undergo a separate security review to gain a card that gets them through the lines quicker) which has monumentally failed, mostly because the TSA won't accept DOD or other agency Common Access Cardfs (CAC CARDS) since they don't then get the fee, DHS now proposes doing the same thing for maritime security--starting at Hampton Roads. Dailypress.com reports that DHS proposes to charge $137 for the card--something that probably costs pennies, and even their investigation should not add up to that amount. Discussions are ongoing here as well, since the shipbuilding industry already has DOD-approved CAC CARDS, or the equivalent,and their employees have all undergone extensive background investigations. What ever happended to agency sharing and cooperation?

The recent events in New Bedford, MA, where a concentrated army of DHS functionaries raided Globe Manufacturing, is a perfect example of why DHS should be dismantled. In theory, the intent was to search and arrest illegal aliens working for the company. That, in itself, was admirable. The problems started when they hauled away a number of aliens, many from Central America who had small children, most of them citizens of the US, waiting for their parents return home at the end of the day.

Instead, the parent(s) were hauled off, often to distant locations, and the children were stranded in day care with friends and relatives. DHS tried to explain that none had indicated they had children, or they would have made arrangements for those kids. However, since no parents indicated that children were involved, they simply hauled away the parents.

Seems to me a bitlike the scen in Gandhi where the British general tried to tell his superiors, after killinga large number of indian protestors, that any would have received medical care, if only they had asked. he was removed in disgrace.

Insensitivity arises when the Federal bureaucrats assume that parents in this situation will admit to children that might simply join them in jail. The administration has less than an admirable record in this regard. The time has come to stop this foolishness, and begin to recognize that these people--working diligently at jobs that the average American will not take, are a part of our economy, and should have better rules which determine their status. The Bush administration spends too much time rushing to judgement on issues such as this without putting either their minds, or their hearts, in gear.

When the story first broke on December 23rd, it was no surprise to many that the Transportation Security Act (TSA) is continuing to violate the Privacy Act with its collection of information on travellers in the Nation's air systems.

In a story released by the Associated Press on December 24th, the TSA Privacy Office admitted that its own Provacy notice on the collection of passenger data in June 2004, actually collected far more information than allowed or announced. Its contractor, EagleForce, contracted out additional information collection to several other firms, and then passed the augmented data back to TSA. The information totaled approximately 191 million records. Months ago, the GAO called the data collection excessive. Now, the spokesman for the TSA Privacy Office admitted the same, in saying, "TSA announced one testing program, but conducted an entirely different one."

The Chicago Tribune noted that, even in the face of the report, TSA still refused to admit that it violated the law, calling the huge data collection, an 'inadvertant' and 'unintentional' failure of TSA to amend the Privacy Act data collection notice once the data collection process had changed.

This failure is part of the continuing attempt by DHS to get its data collection correct in implementing a system called SecureFlight, which has been plagued by problems, and Congress has refused to authorize its implementation until the GAO gives it a clean bill of health--that includes resolving information security and privacy issues, according to an article in CNET.

Whatever the failure, TSA and its parent, the DHS still continue to think they are above the law, and steadfastly continue their illegal data collections. One has to wonder if that will continue under the scrutiny of the new Congress.

Were you aware that to travel to a foreign country, you first have to be 'approved' by the Department of homeland Security? Probably not, but you do, according to rules published in the Federal Register last July. here isan exerpt of the new rules:

"Therefore, CBP [Customas and Border Patrol] has concluded that the prevention of a high-risk passenger from boarding an aircraft is the appropriate level of security in the commercial air travel environment. Manifest data received and vetted prior to passenger boarding will enable CBP to attain this level of security. Further, this vetting of passengers on international flights should eliminate the need for passenger carriers to conduct watch list screening of these passengers, upon publication and implementation of a final rule. Accordingly, with this proposed rule,CBP is proposing two transmission options for air carriers to select from at their discretion: (i) the submission of complete manifests no later than 60minutes prior to departure or (ii)transmitting passenger data as individual, real-time transactions, i.e., as each passenger checks in, up to but no later than 15 minutes prior to departure. Under both options, the carrier will not permit the boarding of a passenger unless the passenger has been cleared by CBP."

DHS has decided that it needs to tighten its rules, afterraw numbers of people on both the travel forbidden list and suspicious list were leaked to the press. The complete story is here, and the complete rules can be read here. An interesting development usually practiced only in regimes where control of thepopulationis papramount, like the former Soviet Union or Nazi Germany.

There is a great website, called "Homeland Stupidity" that generatesinteresting information of the doings of DHS. Their latest issue involves a virus infection at DHS headquarters that permeated their networks, and just about brought them to their feet.

As Michael Hampton reports, "Last August a Windows virus infected over 1,300 computers which Customs and Border Protection uses to screen foreign travelers visiting the U.S. The bureau almost immediately tried to cover up the incident. In “The Virus That Ate DHS,” Wired reporter and former hacker Kevin Poulsen illustrates that the Department of Homeland Security’s grasp on computer security is tenuous at best."

Many of us have been following that report since it was first published in Wired Magazine, and this bit of information is just the latest round as information requested under the Freedom of Information Act finally becomes available.